Press

AsiaBLECH 2016, Asia’s most admired international trade show for the sheet metal working industry, which took place from 11-13 May 2016 in Suzhou International Expo Center, China, has come to a successful end. Mirroring the long-established expertise of BLECH global brand, the AsiaBLECH has attracted during the 3-day event more than 3,000 visitors from 30 application sectors to discover an extensive variety of cutting-edge technologies and innovative solutions presented by nearly 100 sheet metal working industry leaders from 13 countries and regions across the globe.

Complete Offerings, High-Profile Exhibitors

Today’s production is undergoing major changes. With product variety increasing and batch sizes decreasing, manufacturing processes in sheet metal working are becoming ever more complex and require highly efficient and flexible solutions. Companies in the industry sector are, therefore, currently facing an environment of change that requires vital decisions for the long-term adaptation of their production processes. Bearing this in mind, exhibitors at AsiaBLECH 2016 have managed to engage more visitors in a more interactive and creative way.

For example, the eyeball-attracting joint booth featuring Heager, Mate, PMA, Timesavers, RKTEC, WJS and other big names gave visitors 360° experience of the latest enhanced machinery. Vigano, one of the three coil processing giants in the world, attended AsiaBLECH for the first time to join Stam and Jinan Foundry & Metalforming Machinery Research Institute in showcasing state-of-the-art coil processing technologies. In addition to the latest generation of fiber laser cutting machine, Han’s Laser also displayed at this year’s event the fully automatic laser pipe cutting machine, taking the audience to a novel sheet metal working world.

Numerous Customers, Plentiful Orders

AsiaBLECH as a “one-stop purchase platform” enjoys continued growth and increasing popularity in China. The 3 exhibition days have witnessed signature of numerous purchase orders and contracts on site. Messer, Nell and DIMT (Hangzhou) all had their exhibits stamped with the red word “sold”, suggesting the audience’s high level of professionalism, decision-making power and purchase power.

Statistics show that 98% of trade visitors are willing to return at the next edition, with 49% wishing to find the right suppliers and business partners. All visitors came from sectors closely associated with sheet metal working. Those from sheet metal product processing, automotive (vehicles and components), engineering machinery, elevator manufacturing, agricultural machinery, and electronics industries represented 61% of the total visitor number. Visitors were most interested in such traditional exhibition areas as sheet metal forming and working technologies, automation and robotics, flexible sheet metal working, and surface treatment, totally taking up 65% visitor attention. This shows that AsiaBLECH is a most cost-efficient platform that offers plenty of practical business opportunities for exhibitors to achieve maximum results in limited space.

Exciting Programs, Value-Added Services

The concept of “Industry 4.0” poses unprecedented opportunities and challenges to sheet metal businesses. With the rise of emerging industries, how to lead and sustain technological innovation to ensure more market share is a top concern for everyone present at the event. Therefore, AsiaBLECH organizers have launched a rich variety of supporting program to inspire more enthusiasm from all parties. For instance, nearly 30 sessions of “New Technology Seminar & Meet the Buyer Programme” enabled intensive, face-to-face interaction between exhibitors and visitors. The Technology Seminar invited keynote speaker Mr. Werner Stelzer, an automotive and aluminum consultant, to share his insights with visitors and other participants, who unanimously commented: really valuable!

The “Five Big” Buyer Meeting (automotive, elevator, engineering machinery, white goods, and agricultural machinery) attracted participation of the following exhibiting companies: General Electric, Chery Jaguar Land Rover, Shanghai Machine Tool Group, Airwell Air-Conditioning, MegaFab Asia, Komatsu Xionglian, Shanghai Elevator Trade Association, Messer, JDC, Han’s Laser, Heron Intelligent Equipment, Dreistern, and others. The meeting proposed system solutions to these hot industries and at the same time presented new market outlook. The EuroBLECH Q&A Meeting, held on the third exhibition day, was a good pre-show warm-up in Asia for EuroBLECH, the world’s number one sheet metal event. It well reflected domestic exhibitors’ interest in going global.

High Technology, High Efficiency

This year, visitors can easily complete pre-registration via a new channel - WeChat - in just a few seconds. Many visitors recognize this registration approach as very quick and convenient! Throughout the 3 exhibition days, first-hand event information has been provided both through new media, including e-newsletter and WeChat, and more traditional media, such as publications available at the Media Center, in order to feed the audience with the most updated news about the trade show. In addition, to cope with a record high number of group visitors, this year AsiaBLECH organizers have arranged staffed reception, and developed tailor-made visit route according to group visitors’ industries, so that exhibitors can deliver targeted presentations and visitors can get the information they need in a more efficient way, thus saving more time for business networking with old and new partners.

New AsiaBLECH, New Start

The closing of AsiaBLECH 2016 is not an end, but a new start, with new challenges ahead. Automated production, machine-to-machine communication, intelligent process chains –smart manufacturing have become an integral part of the sheet metal working industry. As a star event in the YDR, AsiaBLECH is engaging a constantly increasing number of excellent exhibitors both at home and abroad to ensure more reliable, more flexible and better quality products and technologies for a wider audience. Preparations for the next edition have started now. AsiaBLECH can be followed on WeChat, with official hashtag as asiablech. You may also visit our official website www.asiablech.com to get fresh updates.